NEPA Clean Energy Analysis: Progress Report
Deliverables 1 & 3
Executive Summary
This report summarizes progress on analyzing NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) compliance data for clean energy projects. We present findings from two deliverables:
- Deliverable 1: Characterizing the clean energy project landscape by technology, lead agency, and geographic location
- Deliverable 3: Analyzing NEPA process types (CE, EA, EIS) across energy classifications
Analysis covers 26,000+ clean energy projects extracted from the NEPA database, classified using energy technology tags (solar, wind, transmission, storage, geothermal, hydropower, nuclear, hydrogen, and efficiency/conservation).
Deliverable 1: Clean Energy Project Landscape
Technology Distribution
How are clean energy projects distributed across technology types?
Transmission and solar dominate the clean energy NEPA landscape. Transmission projects comprise the largest share, reflecting the infrastructure buildout required to connect renewable generation to load centers. Solar’s prominence aligns with its rapid deployment growth over the analysis period.
Lead Agency Analysis
Which federal agencies are leading clean energy NEPA reviews?
| Department | Categorical Exclusion | Environmental Assessment | Environmental Impact Statement | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | 20,819 | 476 | 344 | 21,639 |
| Department of the Interior | 4,136 | 233 | 245 | 4,614 |
| Department of Agriculture | 47 | 11 | 41 | 99 |
| Other Independent Agencies | 0 | 1 | 94 | 95 |
| Department of Defense | 7 | 2 | 29 | 38 |
| Major Independent Agencies | 0 | 3 | 30 | 33 |
| General Services Administration | 5 | 0 | 7 | 12 |
| Department of Homeland Security | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Department of Transportation | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| Department of Commerce | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Department of State | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Department of Justice | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Department of the Treasury | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| International Assistance Programs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Legislative Branch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 25,029 | 730 | 812 | 26,571 |
DOE dominates clean energy NEPA reviews (81% of projects), followed by Interior (17%). Notably, DOE processes the vast majority through Categorical Exclusions (96%), while Interior shows more variation across process types. This concentration suggests DOE’s loan programs and grid modernization initiatives drive most federal clean energy review activity.
Geographic Distribution
Where are clean energy projects located?
State-Level Distribution
| State | Categorical Exclusion | Environmental Impact Statement | Environmental Assessment | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 4,143 | 48 | 23 | 4,214 |
| Washington | 2,165 | 96 | 62 | 2,323 |
| California | 1,616 | 186 | 95 | 1,897 |
| Idaho | 1,666 | 92 | 59 | 1,817 |
| Oregon | 1,320 | 69 | 31 | 1,420 |
| Colorado | 1,295 | 44 | 46 | 1,385 |
| Nevada | 955 | 112 | 27 | 1,094 |
| Arizona | 929 | 70 | 93 | 1,092 |
| Wyoming | 819 | 47 | 11 | 877 |
| New Mexico | 657 | 60 | 39 | 756 |
| Texas | 674 | 27 | 22 | 723 |
| Utah | 617 | 46 | 9 | 672 |
| New York | 591 | 27 | 12 | 630 |
| Illinois | 543 | 10 | 20 | 573 |
| Pennsylvania | 536 | 11 | 6 | 553 |
| Montana | 386 | 43 | 6 | 435 |
County-Level Distribution
Process Type by Location
Clean energy projects concentrate in the Western states and Southeast nuclear corridor. South Carolina leads (driven by Savannah River Site activity), followed by Washington, California, and Idaho. The county-level map reveals clustering around major federal facilities and high-resource renewable areas (desert Southwest for solar, Great Plains for wind).
Deliverable 3: NEPA Process Analysis
Process Types by Energy Classification
How do NEPA review processes differ across energy types (Clean, Fossil, Other)?
Clean energy projects use Categorical Exclusions at higher rates than fossil fuel projects. This likely reflects:
- Smaller project footprints (rooftop solar, efficiency upgrades)
- DOE’s programmatic CEs for loan guarantee activities
- Routine transmission maintenance and upgrades
Fossil projects show higher EA/EIS rates, consistent with larger environmental footprints requiring more detailed review.
Work in Progress
Completed Analysis
| Deliverable | Component | Status |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | Technology classification | Complete |
| D1 | Lead agency analysis | Complete |
| D1 | Geographic mapping (state, county) | Complete |
| D3 | Process type by energy classification | Complete |
In Progress
Generation Capacity Analysis
Preliminary exploration of generation capacity fields reveals substantial missing data. We are evaluating:
- Option A: Subset analysis using only records with capacity data (reduced sample size)
- Option B: Imputation strategies using project type and technology proxies
- Option C: Supplementing with external capacity databases (EIA-860)
Recommendation: We suggest discussing the tradeoffs at Thursday’s meeting to determine the preferred approach.
Timeline Analysis
NEPA review duration analysis requires:
- Parsing decision dates from document records
- Handling projects with multiple decision documents
- Defining appropriate start/end date conventions
Current status: Data cleaning underway; preliminary results expected next cycle.
Next Steps
- Finalize capacity analysis approach based on funder input
- Complete timeline/duration analysis for Deliverable 2
- Cross-deliverable synthesis — connecting technology, agency, and process type findings
- Validation — spot-check classifications against source documents
Report generated 2026-01-16 | NEPA Clean Energy Analysis